About the job
OpenAI’s People Innovation Labs is an engineering group within the People organization, focused on building systems that help attract and retain top talent. The team works on projects ranging from recruitment tools to company culture initiatives, including internal products like OpenHouse, AI-powered automation, frameworks for performance and growth, and scalable recruiting infrastructure. Collaboration spans HR, Recruiting, Finance, Legal, IT, Security, and executive leadership.
Role overview
The Program Manager for People Innovation Labs will lead the execution and coordination of complex, cross-functional programs. This role centers on managing the processes that drive the team’s goals, rather than defining the outcomes themselves. The work involves translating product strategies into actionable plans, overseeing dependencies across teams and systems, and ensuring smooth delivery of key initiatives in a fast-changing environment. Close collaboration with Product Management, Engineering, Design, and People stakeholders is essential to create clarity, accountability, and steady progress across projects.
What you will do
- Oversee program execution for multiple initiatives, defining clear plans, milestones, responsibilities, and timelines.
- Align cross-functional partners, including People, Recruiting, HR Business Partners, Finance, Legal, IT, Security, and Engineering.
- Manage dependencies and sequencing across systems such as HRIS, ATS, permissions, data pipelines, and rollout infrastructure.
- Identify and resolve risks, bottlenecks, and tradeoffs as they arise.
- Establish and maintain operational rhythms for initiatives, including regular status updates, reviews, launch readiness, and retrospectives.
Who thrives in this role
This position suits those who excel at coordinating collaboration across varied teams, navigating ambiguity and complex structures, and building operational frameworks that help product and engineering groups work efficiently and stay organized.

